Mikaila Adams
Editor-News
Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG), Bucharest, and its partners will advance the Midia gas development project with approval from the Romanian government through the National Agency for Mineral Resources to develop Ana and Doina natural gas fields offshore Romania in the Black Sea.
Final investment decision of of the project, which is expected to cost $400 million, was taken Feb. 6.
The project—the first new offshore gas development in the Romanian Black Sea to be built after 1989—consists of Ana and Doina gas fields. Discovered in 2007 and 1995, respectively, the fields are of latest Miocene to Dacian age, shallow marine sandstone (shore face) reservoirs, 120 km offshore, in the XV Midia Shallow area in 70 m of water. They are estimated to contain 320 bcf of P50 contingent gas resources.
The project consists of five offshore production wells (one subsea well at Doina and four platform wells at Ana) and a subsea gas production system over the Doina well to be connected through an 18-km pipeline with an unmanned production platform over Ana field. A 126-km pipeline will link the Ana platform to shore and to a 1 billion-cu m/year onshore gas treatment plant in Corbu commune, Constanta county. Processed gas will be delivered to the national transmission system operated by SNTGN Transgaz SA at the gas metering station within the gas treatment plant.
Last year, BSOG completed drilling of the appraisal wells, the pipeline route and platform surveys, onshore activities including archaeological surveys and route surveys as well as the engineering studies including the conceptual engineering and front-end engineering and design (OGJ Online, Aug. 3, 2018). A long-term gas sales agreement was secured with a Romanian subsidiary of Engie for all of the project’s gas production except for volumes currently obliged to sell on the centralized market and a gas transmission contract with Transgaz for 15 years.
The entire project infrastructure—including all offshore and onshore facilities—has been contracted to be built, installed, and commissioned under a contract with GSP Offshore. Development drilling of the five production wells also will be performed by GSP for which the GSP Uranus jack up rig will deployed.
This year BSOG anticipates completing the detailed engineering for the project, beginning fabrication of the Ana wellhead platform at the shipyard in Agigea, beginning civil constructions at the gas treatment plant site in Corbu, and purchasing and delivering many company items.
BSOG, owned by Carlyle International Energy Partners and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, serves as operator with 65% interest. Partners are Gas Plus 15% and Petro Ventures 20%.
